The Bulletin. 7 



A pecan orchard under proper conditions and given good care is 

 a safe and profitable investment. It is one of an enduring nature 

 that can be handed down from father to son. It yields a product for 

 which there is an unlimited demand with no prospect of an over- 

 production. Nut growing is a pleasant as well as a profitable busi- 

 ness. It gives large returns from a small investment of money and 

 patience. It gives a product of large value in small bulk. The yield 

 of a pecan orchard needs no expensive harvesting, fancy packages or 

 cold storage. 



I once visited the home of a commercial pecan grower when he 

 was in the height of his shipping season. He sat on his piazza com- 

 fortably ensconced in a rocking chair. This was in striking contrast 

 to the perspiring exertions of his neighbors who were in a frenzy of 

 haste picking, wrapping and packing perishable fruit for the early 

 train. At his convenience the pecan grower sent his darky to the 

 depot with a single barrel of pecans. They were packed in a second- 

 hand sugar barrel that cost 10 cents. The barrel of nuts was not 

 consigned to any commission man to take its chances in the open 

 market, but was sold on order, a check for $45 already having been 

 received for it. A consignment of perishable fruit of similar value 

 would have cost much more in picking, packing, boxes, hauling, icing, 

 commissions, etc., with the not improbable prospect of a notice for re- 

 mittance to cover express charges. 



The pecan business is a bona fide, substantial business in spite of 

 the wild-cat schemes and bogus companies that have been foisted upon 

 it by unprincipled speculators. Counterfeit money is a proof that 

 there is good sterling coin. Every landowner who is fortunate 

 enough to live in the pecan region of the Sunny South should plant 

 pecan trees. He should plant them about his lawn for ornament, 

 about his dooryard for shade, and about his buildings for the small 

 boys. There is no more beautiful tree than the pecan and none more 

 beloved by the children. Is there a single country home in the pecan 

 belt that can afford to be without them ? If the unsightly Oderhoet 

 mulberries, the ragged elms and the sickly maples that encumber 

 farmyards in the South would give place to the beautiful and pro- 

 ductive pecan tree it would add millions to farm values. 



Besides the home plantings of pecans for shade and family uses 

 there are excellent opportunities in the South of enhancing farm 

 values by the utilization of much waste land that is now producing 

 nothing but 'possum persimmons, sassafras and briers. Such plant- 

 ings would not even encroach on land now used in other crops. There 

 is more or less of such waste land on every Southern farm that 

 could be profitably cultivated in pecan trees. Some of the richest 

 and most productive lands in the South are those lying within the 

 overflow regions of rivers. There is a great deal of such land in 

 Eastern North Carolina that is periodically enriched with a layer 



